Chương 66: The Forgotten Clown

Ch 66 - The Forgotten Clown Necroton had much better mining grounds than the surrounding cities. Because of that, if he could recruit more miners, especially those with higher mastery, he would be able to produce far more raw materials than any of the nearby cities. However, the biggest problem with the city was that nearly all of the raw materials produced there were immediately exported at extremely low prices.

As a result, the city gained very little profit from its own resources, leaving the local economy stagnant and the people's standard of living far below what it should have been. That was why, over the next few weeks, Jester focused entirely on providing everything the workers needed. He also received a substantial amount of additional funds from the three nobles he had successfully blackmailed, and it was more than enough to support his current plans.

After that, he intended to focus on processing raw materials through full industrial development. Starting with raw ore, he planned to refine it into metal ingots before eventually producing equipment, armor, and weapons that would carry a much higher market value. Farming would also take time, along with building the necessary infrastructure and supply chains.

However, if Jester's vision unfolded as planned, then it would not be long before he had complete control over the entire production chain from upstream to downstream. He would be able to mine the ore himself, grow his own food, raise livestock, and operate every stage of production through tailors, blacksmiths, and alchemists. In other words, the city would become almost entirely self-sufficient. Even so, the available NPCs still had relatively low mastery levels.

Because of that, he would need more players to come and settle in the city. With a larger player population, he would gain access to far more skilled craftsmen and specialists to expand every industry. Unfortunately, before that could happen, he still had to provide enough housing, restaurants, workshops, warehouses, and other essential facilities. Building all of that would require a tremendous amount of time, even though the progress they had already achieved was nothing short of remarkable.

The growing number of knights also greatly improved the city's security. With more knights available, he could station patrols throughout the city, secure the surrounding roads, and protect nearby resource sites. That, in turn, increased the players' confidence and encouraged even more of them to relocate to Necroton. The changes were happening gradually, but Necroton continued to show remarkable progress.

Jester knew perfectly well that such rapid development would inevitably attract the envy of neighboring cities, many of which would begin viewing Necroton as a future threat rather than just another small settlement. On top of that, there were still threats from the other princes and princesses competing for the throne. He had to remain extremely cautious.

If the day ever came when he was forced into battle, he needed to make sure his territory was strong enough to withstand an invasion and that he possessed the military strength to defeat whatever enemy stood in his way. Jester still had an incredibly long road ahead of him, and he had not even spent a full month of real-life time playing the game. Even so, he had devoted almost every available hour to staying inside the game. Every moment had been used as productively as possible.

At the very least, most of the smaller threats surrounding Necroton had already begun to fade away. The players who used to launch raids against the city every night were becoming fewer and fewer. Instead, many of them had started choosing Necroton as their base of operations. The neighboring city was also under considerable pressure after Jester had squeezed so many of its resources. They would need quite some time to recover from the losses.

Because of that, more players from the neighboring city would gradually migrate to Necroton instead. That would only place even greater pressure on the neighboring city's economy and overall development. Jester wandered through the city in his normal form, the Clown, taking in everything around him. Compared to the first time he had arrived, Necroton now felt far more vibrant. The streets were livelier, people were busy working, and the city finally looked as though it had a promising future.

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"Damn... this is actually incredible." Jester could not help but feel proud of himself. He had accomplished all of this in such an unbelievably short amount of time. And this was not even counting the Bullkin army he had already assembled and stationed deep within the forest. Those Bullkin had also begun training relentlessly while exploring the surrounding forest to map the terrain, identify resource locations, and scout strategic routes.

Jester knew they would eventually become one of his greatest military assets when the time finally came. On top of that, Jester had earned an enormous increase in Chaos. [Chaos: 1, 020] Most of it had come within a very short period after successfully blackmailing the neighboring nobles, while the rest was generated by the overwhelmingly positive response from Necroton's residents as the city continued to develop.

More and more citizens had started working actively, especially as builders, since construction projects were appearing all across the city. Others devoted themselves to farming, while many more joined the mining industry, creating a steady cycle that continued to strengthen Necroton's foundation. Jester continued wandering through the city until he suddenly bumped into someone. He clicked his tongue in annoyance before looking up to see who had stopped him.

It was one of the knights on patrol, wearing polished armor with a stern expression that immediately made his authority clear.

"Watch where you're going!" the knight snapped, glaring at him.

"Stop walking around without paying attention. You're getting in everyone's way, and you're making our patrol harder than it needs to be. If you don't have somewhere to be, then step aside and let people do their jobs." With that, the knight simply brushed past him and continued his patrol without another glance.

"Damn it!" Jester muttered under his breath. Why was he so irritated just because that knight had yelled at him? He was only in his Clown form right now. Still… The knight had not actually done anything wrong. Jester had been wandering absentmindedly for quite a while, stopping every now and then just to admire the city's progress. More than once, someone had bumped into him because he was standing in the middle of the road, and a few had even scolded him before walking away.

He frowned deeply as he clenched his fists. This clown seriously needed a much higher reputation. He could not keep relying on the respect he received whenever he wore Caelan's mask. Little by little, he was rebuilding the prince's image while his own identity as the Clown remained exactly the same. To everyone else, he was still just a clown. Someone insignificant. Someone people could ignore, look down on, or even yell at without a second thought. Jester let out a slow sigh, still feeling conflicted.

Part of him wanted to step into the spotlight, to become someone everyone recognized. Yet another part of him remembered the principle he had set from the very beginning. As long as people underestimated him, it worked to his advantage. He needed to remind himself of what his true motivation really was. His greatest goal had never been fame or recognition. It was to build power, expand his influence, accumulate wealth, and establish a foundation that no one could easily shake.

Little by little, he was already moving toward that goal. This was only the beginning. There was still a long way to go before he could truly stand at the top. ** It was a grand council chamber, a spacious hall built from polished stone. A massive round table rested at the center of the room, surrounded by several chairs. However, out of all the seats, only two were actually occupied. The rest displayed floating holographic screens, each showing the face of a different player attending the meeting remotely.

One of the people sitting at the table was a young man wearing shining plate armor with a long crimson cape draped over his shoulders. His blond hair was neatly styled, with long bangs falling naturally over the front of his forehead, giving him a sharp yet fashionable appearance. The name Siki floated above his head. Sitting beside him was a girl who looked to be in her late teens. She had long blonde hair with straight-cut bangs resting just above her eyes. What stood out the most, however, was her outfit.

She wore an elegant red mage robe over a fitted white dress. The name Naevys hovered above her head. She was fast asleep in her chair, leaning against the backrest as if the meeting had nothing to do with her. One of the players shown on a floating screen had been shouting nonstop for several minutes.

"Windious and Clover are absolutely useless!" the woman yelled furiously.

"We've been searching for that target for months, and the moment it finally appears right in front of them, they still manage to let someone else take it away!"

"Do they even have brains? What exactly were they doing? Standing there and watching? They had every opportunity to stop it, but instead they let the most important lead we've had slip right through their fingers! It's beyond embarrassing!" She slammed her fist against her desk before continuing without giving anyone else a chance to speak.

"And then listen to the excuse they gave us. A clown? Seriously? They expect us to believe that some random clown walked in and abducted the Saintess right in front of them?"

"Do they hear how ridiculous that sounds? Since when does a clown overpower elite players? If they wanted to make excuses, they could've at least come up with something believable! This is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to cover up their own incompetence!" The room remained silent as she continued venting her anger. Only after she finally stopped to catch her breath did Siki narrow his sharp eyes and form a faint smile.

"Leave that clown to me," he said calmly.

"I saw a clown wandering around Necroton this morning. I have a feeling he's connected to all of this. Whether he's the one we're looking for or not, I'll find out myself."